Suki Nan Desu
by yukari-chan
Summary: -.-; a valentines white day one shot... ExT. I couldn't help it... I was in a sugary mood.


**Disclaimer**: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP and Kodansha.

**Author's Notes**: I know it's the summer… a far cry from Valentines' Day and White Day but I couldn't help it. I've been watching too much fluffy anime and reading too much mushy manga.

_Italicized_- thoughts [Eriol's]

**Bold**- written content

**Suki Nan Desu**

-Yukari-chan

"For me?" A pair of dark sapphire eyes looked up from his desk.

"Hai. These are for you." A girl with flowing violet hair and matching amethyst eyes smiled down at him.

"Happy Valentines' Day, Eriol-kun."

_Did she just call me Eriol-kun? Were we always on first name basis with each other?_

"Arigatou gozaimasu… Daidouji-san." He unconsciously called her by her last name, not able to muster the courage to call her Tomoyo. _Is that how I usually address her? Eriol-kun… I like the way she says it. The nice roll that she puts into it._ He quickly lowered his face so she wouldn't see the blush that was creeping onto his cheeks. _Chocolate?_ He looked suspisciously at the decorated package in his palm.

"Ehh, did you make this?"

"Hai. Sakura-chan and I made them."

_Them?_ He looked over at Syaoran's desk and saw that he too had an identical package. Eriol inwardly pouted to himself. _I thought I was special._

"Eriol-kun, this is for you as well." A sweet Sakura handed him another little package of homemade chocolate.

"Arigatou, demo, Sakura-chan, why is his different?" He pointed an accusing finger at Syaoran's chocolate, which was noticeably larger and included an extra gift. Syaoran turned completely red at the mention of this.

"That's because…" Sakura looked around awkwardly for the right words.

"It's a secret."

"Secret? So Syaoran-kun is just more special compared to the rest of us charming, beautiful, single guys, right?"

"Hiiragizawa-kun, you just have to ruin it for Sakura-chan, don't you? Now she's all red and flustered."

_She called me by my last name again; I liked it better when she said E-RI-OL._ He thought to himself as Sakura started denying her embarrassment. Class began and Eriol continued musing on the manner he addresses this girl and why he just seemed obsessed with it.

---

The long day of classes finally ended as Eriol found himself in the boys' locker room, ready to change his shoes. He sat down next to Syaoran and Takashi and listened in on their conversation.

"Li-san, you must feel special today." Takashi stated at the Chinese boy.

"Why?"

"Of course the honmei chocolate from Sakura-chan."

"Honmei?" both Syaoran and Eriol wore confused expressions on their faces.

"It must be time for the ever diligent and saintly educator to add a little more Japanese culture into those foreign brains of yours." Takashi stood with one leg on the bench and his elbow resting on the knee, a pose of extreme confidence with a touch of stupidity.

"I would love to tell you the history of Valentines' Day but I'm afraid we do not have much time, so I will go straight to the point. Valentines' Day chocolate is divided into two categories." He stuck two fingers out, looking particularly smug with himself.

"The two categories are giri and honmei chocolate. Giri is what they consider obligatory chocolate, a gift for the more general people, co-workers, classmates and more mutual friends. That would be the chocolate that Eriol and I received from Sakura-chan. You know, the same old gift."

Takashi paused, allowing the two boys to soak in all that he has told him. Eriol looked down dejectedly at the chocolate Tomoyo had given him. _It's homemade but they all have the same thing as well… giri._ He sighed and turned his head back to Takashi.

"However, Li-kun, the chocolate that you received from Sakura-chan is different. You see," Takashi took the package and held it up for all of them to observe.

"It's obvious that she put more effort, love and care into _this_ package. It even comes with a little special something, which I might add you still haven't opened. This, my boy, is a honmei chocolate. A gift that is given by the female to someone she considers more seriously about, a potential… lover if I may address it like that."

With that, Takashi handed the gift back to Syaoran who looked it at with delight and an even amount of confusion. Eriol opened his locker and caught sight of something. He quickly slammed it shut before any of the other two boys saw anything. But that action alone brought every pair of eyes to look his direction. He smiled sheepishly and waved them away. _What was that? It was… definitely frilly. It had to be a gift of some sort with all the ribbons… and was that a small cluster of violets? I know I got a whiff of something from that slam…_ He quickly opened his locker and swept the pile into his book bag in one fluid motion.

---

For once, Eriol was eager to get home but this day seemed to be filled with obstacles. It was a routine to walk home with Syaoran, Tomoyo and Sakura but today, he was left with Syaoran and Takashi. The girls had some sort of "errand" and left them early. Plus, today was taking a long time. The talking somehow slowed everything down he couldn't remember them ever being postponed by conversation.

Eriol sprinted home after the three of them finally separated. He dropped all his things on the floor and sat down in front of his book bag. With his eyes clamped tightly shut he flicked open his bag and nimbly gathered the heap of ribbons from his bag. _Of course I'm just exaggerating a bit… it's not a mound, heap or a pile of ribbons. It's the perfect amount._ He cracked a peek from his left eye. There it is… sitting perfectly harmless on the table. It looked oddly out of place against the shadiness of everything in his house.

Carefully he kept himself from flinching when he gingerly put a hand on top of it. _A box?_ He finally decided that he could never figure out what it was with his eyes closed.

He looked at the pretty packaging; a simple red box with a flurry of ribbons tied securely around it and a few sprigs of violet attached to the cover. He breathed deeply before untying the ribbons and flicking the cover open. His eyes softened upon seeing the contents inside.

He chuckled to himself. It was a rather plump chocolate heart a bit wider than his palm. _This person showed effort_ he smiled to himself. The chocolate was engraved with 'Happy Valentines' Day Eriol'. He looked into the box and saw a pouch of a contrasting color. He carefully took it out and examined it. It was a dark satin blue with the sun, moon and scattered stars stitched onto it with gold and silver colored thread. It was vaguely translucent and contained a variety of dried flowers. _A potpourri sachet? Violets…_ he inhaled the fragrance.

At the bottom of the box he found a little hand-drawn card. It wasn't labeled with his name but the small chibi drawing of a boy with black hair, big round glasses sporting a smile had to be him.

**Happy Valentines' Day! I hope you have a wonderful time. Also, hoping you'll accept this small token of affection from me.**

The card was signed with another small drawing. There was no mistake who that was a drawing of. _Tomoyo-chan…_ Eriol smiled wistfully to himself before snapping awake. _Nani? Why am I reacting like this? And is this… is this a… honmei chocolate gift from her? Honmei… STOP!!! Stop thinking like that; Tomoyo-chan is just a friend emphasis on friend you idiot. She doesn't mean anything with this gift…_

Eriol read the card again. 'Small token of affection' _affection… why is she using the term affection? She must be expressing some sort of… _His face turned a scarlet hue.

He looked tenderly at the chocolate. _It looks too good to be eaten. Plus… I want to cherish this gift that might mean something... special_. He put the chocolate back into the box and held the box dreamily. _But if I don't eat it, all her good efforts and love will go to waste… _He pouted when he realized he'd had to eat it. _Later, I want to look at it right now._ He slid down on the couch and whispered 'honmei' over and over again to himself.

---

"White Day?" Syaoran and Eriol sported the clueless look again as Takashi educated them.

"Remember soldiers… White Day is on March 14th, exactly one month after Valentines' Day. This day is the male's chance to give something back to those who gave him something on Valentines' Day. Especially to the girl who he himself is having serious thoughts about." Takashi winked at Syaoran whose face turned into a tomato.

"Bear in mind, the gifts should be… white! Hence the name!"

With that newly planted in them, the boys set off home again.

---

Eriol sighed to himself as he took his time getting home today. There was much to think about. His encounter with Tomoyo was so awkward today. He liked that feeling of awkwardness that she gave him. He was proud of himself though. He managed to thank her for the gift even through all the stuttering.

_White day_… He looked at his ceiling as if it would give him answers. _So I should get her something back right? But Takashi said if I'm thinking about this girl seriously… Tomoyo… serious relationship. Do I want to?_

He looked thoughtfully at the sachet he hung around his bedpost.

---

For two weeks he contemplated with himself about Tomoyo and his feelings towards her. It was certain he never thought of her that way... that is until now. But she always awoke this tingly feeling in him. A nervous jittery sensation and Eriol wanted to do nothing more than to watch and listen to her for his entire life. She was brave enough to admit that she had feelings towards him and he knew he could do the same thing. He's willing to… just not sure if he's doing the right thing.

He mindlessly walked into a store and saw that they already had displays for White Day. He walked over, carefully peering at the things they had set out. In the corner, he found an array of colorful boxes; all waiting to be filled with little treasures for loved ones. A small lavender box caught his eye. _Too small_… he put the box back down but something kept nagging him. He kept seeing Tomoyo's expression when she opened the cover and he wanted that to come true. _Yes, that's right. I want to see that expression on her face… I want to be the one that can do that to her… the only one._ He paid for the box; behind the counter, something caught his eye; something white, silky and perfect.

---

He light stroked the gift before putting it back safely in his drawer. _She made something for me. Wouldn't that be a better gift? Show some love, right? That's what Takashi said the difference was… Now that's hard… something homemade… Ayy only two more days left!!_

He ran to the library inside his house. _There has to be a recipe book here… there are millions of books so there must be at least one! _He spent the whole evening going through the books.

"AH HA!" He shouted victoriously to himself. Flipping through the pages he found chocolate. Too hard, plus I don't have most of the ingredients and its already quite late. He fumbled with more pages until he landed on something he thought was simple enough.

"Sugar cookies… I can cut out shapes too!" He mused to himself. Looking at the time, he realized it was much too late to begin baking. _I must devote tomorrow to this… it can't be THAT hard._

Those were the exact words we kept mumbling to himself the next day; 'it can't be THAT hard'. He found himself stuck in the kitchen the whole day, trying to perfect this simple recipe. Somehow they always ended up a little too burnt, out of shape or just a failure.

The day had finally come to an end. Eriol paced restlessly around the kitchen trying to keep himself from falling asleep, then, the oven sounded its bell at last. He took out the tray of cookies and started to fan them, trying to cool them faster. He examined the little golden hearts on the tray and smiled. _I made these. I made these myself… for her. _He quickly decorated the cookies before wrapping them up and getting some sleep.

Eriol was dead tired from his sudden self-taught home ec class but he just couldn't sleep. He only had around 5 more hours till he would have to wake up. Plus, he was too excited. Five hours turned to four. His sapphire eyes quickly settled on the sachet that had a soft golden glow from the embroidery before giving in to sleep.

---

_I'm going to be late!!_ Eriol sprinted down the street faster before making a sharp turn into the school. He wheezed stridently as he slouched into his seat.

"Am I late?" He managed to breathe out.

"You've still got around 10 minutes. You're far from late."

"10?" Eriol looked at his watch and realized it was set faster than the school time. He sat there gasping for breath and looking around for Tomoyo.

"There she is." He whispered. She was leaning against the window next to Chiharu's desk. _Oh she's coming over here. Look! Oh, look at her smile._ He felt his heart jump out of his chest when she sat in her seat and turned around to face him.

"Ohayo, Hiiragizawa-kun."

"Oh-hayo… Dai-daidouji-san." His voice was starting to fail him. He felt his heart pounding right in his throat preventing him from talking in his usually calm and collected tone.

"To- Daidouji-san?"

"Hai?" She looked sweetly at him as his face burned crimson. Eriol reached into his bag and took out the cookies.

"For you… Ehh…Happy White Day." She looked at the cookies and then at him and a smiled spread across her already beautiful face.

"Arigatou!"

He reached into his pocket for the lavender box but it wasn't there. He started sticking his hands into all of his pockets, searching frantically for the little box. _NO. It's in my drawer. My drawer is HOME not HERE. ARGHHHH_. He felt a cold surface against his skin when he sudden pounded his head against the desk. _What do I do?!_ He looked at her smiling at him and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Ne… Daidouji-san?"

"Hmm?" She looked up from the pack of homemade cookies at the boy who was sheepishly grinning at her.

"Would you… can you… umm… perhaps… meet me at the clock tower tonight?" He looked down after finally getting that question out. _What the hell am I doing? Why did I just ask her that?_

"Sure. What time?" _What? Did she say yes? Say something idiot. Tell her what time to meet._

"Umm how about around 9?"

"Sure. I'll see you there."

"I'll be waiting." He stuck out his pinky. _Why is my pinky out? Put it back down!!_ His eyes lighted up when her pinky entwined with his.

"Promise?"

"H-h-hai." He stuttered.

"Did you know that legends say White Day gifts have special meanings?" Takashi was surrounded by the group of girls.

"Let me tell you the history of White Day. It all started in 1955, it was said that a marshmallow maker told men that they should pay the women who gave them gifts on Valentines' Day with marshmallows. White Day, which is today, March 14th was originally called Marshmallow Day. The distinctiveness of gifts given on this day revolves around the name of this holiday. That's right! All gifts are white or packaged in something white!!" Takashi stood in the middle of the crowd, pleased with his ability to draw their attentions.

"However, there are some basic gifts… These gifts were said to carry special meaning. First, there's the simple white chocolate. The message given by the white delicacy is 'let's be friends' in other words, 'I don't want to be romantically involved with you'. Second are various types of candies. Little white candies symbolize 'I like you'. And Finally… COOKIES!" Takashi swung a finger in the direction where Tomoyo and Eriol were sitting, causing everyone to turn their heads towards them.

"Cookies imply… 'I love you'." Tomoyo and Eriol's faces abruptly turned scarlet once they heard that.

---

_Nine o'clock... nine o'clock…_ Eriol kept pacing around in his house before he decided to set off early. He sat on a bench in front of the clock tower. Leaning back, he looked up and the sky. It's a bit chilly tonight but it's beautiful. The moon was glowing and casting long shadows in every direction. The sky was clear and there was no sign of the snowfall that the weather station had predicted. Before he knew it, she was there. Standing in front of him and wearing her usual smile.

"Good evening." Tomoyo greeted him.

"Hey." He stood up and took her hand.

"Let me bring you somewhere." Eriol led her up to the clock tower.

"Hiiragizawa-kun, I don't think we're allowed up here."

"It's okay. Come here." He held out his other hand to her and they sat near the ledge. The view was amazing. The whole town was flowing out below them on this radiant night.

He fingered the box in his pocket before taking it out.

"Tomoyo-chan" He said her name. And it came so naturally this time.

"This is for you." He handed her the lavender gift box. It sat serenely on her open palm.

"Open it." He coaxed her. She gently lifted the cover and her face completely flushed. She gently took out the gift as it flowed through her fingers. The white silk ribbon gave off its own light against the night sky.

"I know it's quite simple, and its not that special…" Eriol began.

"But once I saw it, I thought of you… pure and elegant."

"I love it. Arigatou, Hiiragizawa-kun." He smiled back at her.

"Iie, Tomoyo-chan. It's not Hiiragizawa-kun… it's E-ri-ol."

"Hiiragizawa." She had a playful glimmer in her eyes.

"Would you like me to help you?" He reached over and helped her tie a bow around her hair. The ribbon looked like it was made for her and only her. It was a milky contrast against her dark locks.

"You look incredible." Eriol whispered to her before taking her hand.

"Arigatou. Eriol-kun." He was wide-eyed. _Did she just say my name? I've never heard it sound more pleasant._

"Can you please say my name again? I love the way it sounds when you say it."

"Yuki!" she said and pointed out. _Yuki? My name is not yuki._

"Eriol-kun, it's snowing." He turned his head towards the town and it really was snowing.

"Suteki!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Iie, Tomoyo-chan, I think you are more lovely." He stated matter-of-factly before stealing a quick kiss from her.

"Eriol-kun."

"Hai?"

"Suki nan desu."

"I like you more." He held her closer against the light snowfall and frosty night breeze.

**Author's Notes**: I know that the white ribbon has been used in certain anime already but I just found it so sweet and the hair tying was from Fuuruba but eEk… forgive me. The information about White Day was taken at from Wikipedia. Please leave some feedback!


End file.
